Hopcat (Grand Rapids, MI) - Best Beer Bar Ever

"Don't put too much horseradish sauce on your pretzel, you'll feel it burn in your nose!" --Wife

I'll get to the quote in a moment, but first I would like to tell you about the best place I've ever visited for a beer - Hopcat in Grand Rapids, MI.

Maybe it was the weather (sunny, low 80s), or my company (my wife came with me), or the fact that I had already consumed some very high ABV beers at Founders Fest, but my time at Hopcat was about as good as it gets. Sitting in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids on Ionia Avenue, Hopcat is a restaurant / bar that specializes in a ridiculously long beer list and some damn good food.

Only a 5 minute walk from Founders, we decided to grab a bite and see what all the hype was about. Meandering Walking from the festival to Hopcat at about 6:30pm, I was surprised to find that there was no wait at all. Sure there were a ton of people in there, but there were still plenty of tables open. We made sure to grab a high-top in the middle to get a good feel for the atmosphere, and of course to be close to the tap handles. If I owned a bar, this is what it would look like, with lots of wood, exposed brick walls and huge windows in the front.

Did I mention their ridiculously long beer list? Go ahead, take a moment to look, but don't forget to come back. It's really hard to choose something from that, where to even start? I'm a bit on the roasted side by this time, so I went with something that had big flavor and lower ABV - Odd Side Ales Citra Pale. I have no idea what the stats are on this, but it is brewed primarily with Citra hops. What a mighty fine choice, this was a very solid beer. What did my wife have? I couldn't tell you, as I was starting to get a little fuzzy. Time to eat something...

We started out with a pub pretzel with cheese sauce and horseradish sauce on the side. I've never been a huge fan of horseradish, but hell, I'll give it a shot. As I'm taking a piece of the pretzel, and a massive dip of this devil sauce, my wife says, "Don't put too much horseradish sauce on your pretzel, you'll feel it burn in your nose!" What does she know anyways? I'm a man, I can handle a little spice. Apparently this is a bit different than the habanero burn I've grown to love... this felt like being stung in the nose by bees. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, but fortunately I had a cold beer to wash it back, making my respiratory system return to normal.

Aside from the horseradish sauce, the food was pretty damn good. I had a turkey wrap and some awesome fries; great buzz food. It was time to call it quits on the beer for the night, so after finishing our dinner and brew, we decided to get moving. After walking out, I wished I could walk back in and do it all over again. When I come back for the Founders KBS release, I will definitely make more time for the Hopcat.

Overall, downtown Grand Rapids is a really cool place to hang-out, especially when the weather is nice. There are plenty of places to dine, get a drink and relax. If you get the chance, this is a great place to spend a weekend.